The Road to London
by 4utureOlympian
Summary: 4 girls. 1 dream. To win gold at the 2012 London Olympics. It's close enough to taste, but will the drama in everyday teenage life stop them from reaching their gymnastics dreams? This is Sakura, Ino, Tenten, and Hinata's Road to London.
1. Chapter 1

If you have any questions about a gymnastics move…There are links on my site to guides to certain apparatuses (bars, beam, etc.)

OR

I will post pictures as well of any leaps/jumps in my story.

* * *

"Stag jump," said a white haired man wearing a red, white, and blue jumpsuit. "Make sure you point your toes. At the Olympics, they'll be looking for every little mistake."

The pink haired young lady on the beam hesitated only a moment before executing said move, making sure to point her toes, arch her back, and tilt her head. As she landed, the man yelled, "Perfect, Sakura! Alright, I think we're done with the beam for today. Go work on the new dance elements in your floor routine."

Sakura jumped off the balance beam to stand in front of her coach, "Alright, but I might need you to check out my vault. I think I might raise the difficulty on it, since I'm not exactly sure my Yurchenko 1 ½ will clench my spot on the Olympic team if vault ends up being my last shot."

"Good idea. I'll be working with Hinata on her beam, but just call my attention if you need it." Kakashi said to the small girl before he called another violet haired girl from across the gym, "Hinata! Let's work on your Balance Beam routine!"

Hinata jogged to the beam and gave Sakura a wink, before climbing onto the beam where Sakura had previously been. Hinata was 4'9 and only 90 pounds. She was known for her graceful and beautifully executed routines on the floor. She always focuses more on the dance elements of her routine, unlike most gymnasts who focus on their tumbling passes. She had aristocratic features that fit perfectly into her pale, soft face. Her eyes were the color of lavender and waist-length violet hair that was always braided to her head in an elegant crown braid. She wore a long-sleeved teal leotard with white and silver decorations at the neckline.

Sakura stuck her tongue out and gave her thumbs up, before she turned and walked away. As she made her way over to the floor area, she was stopped by her best friend, Ino Yamanaka. "Hey, have you noticed how uptight Kakashi is being about our weak apparatuses? I mean, while you were doing your ring leap on the balance beam, he was practically screaming about how your toes weren't pointed! The ring leap is practically yours, because of how you've perfected it. I can't even do it like you can, but when I do it, he never yells."

Ino was a sexy girl, with an equally as sexy attitude, which always showed when she strutted across the beam during her routine. She was just brushing the height of 5'1, and only weighed 99 pounds. Ino had blond hair that she wore in a ponytail with 2 complex French braids while in the gym. Ino's eyes were a deep, ocean blue that made you feel that if you looked long enough you could get lost in them. Today, she wore a purple and pink long sleeved leotard with sparkles framing the neckline. As always, she looked like she had just stepped off the runway, instead of off the uneven bars.

Sakura, on the other hand, was the total opposite of Ino in personality. Sakura was a very strong willed person. She was 4'9 and weighed 94 pounds. Her hair was an unusual shade of light pink. She kept the mid-shoulder length locks in a ponytail with a French braid to hold her bangs. Her eyes were the most gorgeous shade of green and she was currently wearing an emerald green leotard with black sleeves to compliment them.

"Ino, he's probably a bit harder on me about my beam routine, because he knows that you could easily clench your spot on the Olympic team with your beam routine, but for me, it's the total opposite. Everything needs to be perfect on my beam, including moves that I've already pretty much perfected." Sakura explained.

"I guess you're right. I'm waiting to work on bars, so I can help you with your floor routine. You know just throw out some pointers here and there." Ino said.

"That would be really helpful, considering my mother added new dance elements in last night." Sakura said with a sigh.

"Does Tsunade ever give you a break? I mean, you're at the gym 9 hours a day, but she decides to bring you back 3 nights out of the week!" Ino exclaimed.

"She just wants me to be the best gymnast I can be." Sakura said with a smile, "I appreciate that she wants to be by my side the whole ride to the Olympics."

"I kind of wish my dad didn't think gymnastics was a waste of time, so he could do what your mom does for you. But, I'll prove him wrong when I bring home the gold on balance beam." Ino said with determination in her eyes.

Sakura smiled at her best friend, until a flash of red and black caught her eye.

Tenten was the national champion for the USA and easily one of the best gymnasts in the world. At the moment, she was running at full speed towards the vault. Tenten was the tallest of the 4 best friends. She was 5'2 and 114 pounds. She had long brown hair that you rarely saw in anything but the 2 distinct buns she kept on the top of her head. Her eyes were a deep, chocolate brown. Tenten was currently wearing a red and black leotard with a gold swirl that curled at the neckline.

"Looks like Tenten is still trying to land that Front handspring, double front on the vault. If she actually perfects that move, the gold for vault is hers." Sakura said, watching Tenten fall forwards on the landing.

"I don't understand why she wants that move, her vault is already at an E difficulty level, but she just had to go for the hardest vault in history." Ino said with a shake of her head, then a smile broke out on her face, "But, I hope she ends up perfecting it, she needs to prove to all those foster parents that dumped her on the street that they made the biggest mistakes of their lives."

"Well, they'll never get her back. She lives with me and my mother now and I've never seen her happier. My mother helped Tenten with her floor last night too." Sakura said.

"Girls! Stop gossiping and get moving. Olympic trials are 2 weeks away and not one of you has a routine so perfect that you don't need to practice anymore!" Kakashi yelled from across the gym.

Ino and Sakura shared a look and then they ran to the floor area and got to work.

* * *

"So will you be able to make Olympic Trials?" Sakura asked her boyfriend of 3 years, Sasuke Uchiha. "I know you're always crazy busy, but it never hurts to ask."

"I'll try, but as you know, the company is working on a huge project. But, even if I don't make it, I'll be with you the whole time." Sasuke answered.

"I understand." Sakura said, trying to hide her disappointment. "Well, lunch break is almost over. I can't be late, Kakashi has been up our butts about everything lately and I don't want to give him another reason to yell at me, so I'll call you later." She explained as she stood up and threw her trash away before giving him a chaste kiss on his lips.

Sasuke left a tip on the table before turning to her, "Alright, look. Don't be down about this. If I can make it, I'll be right there in the stands cheering you on." He said trying to console her. "I'll see you later."

They both walked out of the restaurant at the same time, but they walked different ways.

* * *

"I still don't understand how you're so good at the bars," Ino complained as she rubbed the chalk in between her purple grips.

"Ino, me on bars is the same as you on beam. It just comes naturally," Sakura explained as she watched Hinata dance and leap across the floor. "Do you honestly want my help with your bar routine or do you just want to gossip because I seriously need to work on my vault."

"No! I'm serious about this. I probably won't medal on the bars but with your help…maybe I'll raise my chances at an all-around medal. So…What's a good mount that's not too hard but not too easy?" Ino said with determination in her blue eyes.

"Alright. Well, for you…I'm thinking a jump to clear support and a clear hip circle with a half turn. But, to execute this move correctly, you'll need a springboard, because we're doing this on the high bar," Sakura said in a tone that left no room for anything less than business. "Do you need me to do it first, so you can get an idea?"

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Is this a level D mount?" Ino said with a bit of uncertainty swimming through her blue orbs.

"Yep," Sakura said as she ran to get a spring board, "but don't worry about that."

Sakura placed the spring board in front of the high bar, jumped on it a couple times for good measure, and then walked a couple feet back to get a good running start. She took off at a sprint before jumping to grab the high bar, before swinging up to hit the bar with her hips. She pushed up and straightened her arms into a handstand, stayed there for a moment more, and then dropped back down to the floor.

"The key is to keep your elbows by your ears and to permanently point your toes," Sakura said as she clapped her hands together to shake the chalk off. Sakura was a gymnast who didn't use grips; she loved the feel of the bars on her hands.

"Here I go!" Ino said before she mimicked the mount exactly.

"Damn, even I couldn't do that move on the first try. Good job, pig!" Sakura said, not hiding how impressed she was with her best friend.

"Yeah, but that's just the beginning of the routine," Ino said with a sigh.

"Well, it's 4:52 and I'm not staying late today just for my mom to bring me back. So, let's go pack up, get a smoothie, and go home." Sakura said with a smile.

"I like that idea!" Ino replied, before turning to yell across the gym, "Hinata. Tenten. Either of you up for smoothies?"

Tenten who was already packed up and walking towards them gave a relieved sigh before replying, "You don't know how good that sounds right now."

"I do," Hinata shouted. She was sitting on the floor outside the storage room that they kept their stuff in putting her sweatpants and shoes on, before taking her hair down. "I've been working non-stop all day, and I need some SERIOUS kick-back time with my girls."

"Well, why are we sitting around talking about it? I'm starting to hear my strawberry smoothie call for me," Sakura said with a laugh.

* * *

Good idea?  
Bad idea?

Needs work?

Comments? Questions? Heartaches? Heartbreaks?

Review, I need all the help I can get!


	2. Chapter 2

"Make sure you keep your toes pointed, Tenten!" Hinata yelled, "I'm thinking about adding a Double Arabian Salto Straight to your floor, but you have to be able to do the double turn while holding your leg in the split position before I even consider adding that kind of difficulty right after it."

Tenten sighed before getting into position to try again. She took a deep breath before using her arms to propel her and then quickly bringing her left leg up as high as she could get it. Said leg wobbled slightly but stayed up until she brought it to the floor to signal the end of her turn. A grin that stretched from ear to ear broke out across her tan face. "I did it!"

"You wobbled a bit, but that was a huge improvement from the other 3. So tomorrow we will definitely be working on a tumbling pass that will raise your maximum score from a 16.6 to a 16.78," Hinata said with a smile to match her best friends.

"Yes!" Tenten yelled while punching the air.

"What's all this fuss about?"

Both girls turned around to see Ino and Sakura taking off their warm-up suits while shooting curious looks at the 2 grinning girls.

"I finally got the Double turn, so Hina says she'll teach me how to do a Double Arabian Salto straight to raise my maximum score. How awesome is that?" Tenten said bouncing up and down.

"That is something to be grinning about!" Sakura exclaimed before she gave her adopted sister a hug.

"Well, Tenten you could at least give the rest of the gymnastics world a chance at gold!" Ino teased with a smile across her face.

"I'm sorry Ino! I just can't hold back. Now all I have to do is improve my beam routine to snatch the gold right from your manicured fingertips," Tenten teased back with equal humor.

"I'd love to see you pull that off," Ino responded "just don't cry or anything when they put that gold around my neck."

For a moment, they looked serious. But neither could hold back the grins that broke across their faces at the others wit.

"Well as much as I love talking about getting the gold. None of us will be getting anything if we sit around talking about high level moves instead of perfecting them. Let's go girls! London is only a dream away!" Sakura said before running off towards the uneven bars.

"Yeah, she's right. C'mon Tenten! Try it again before we create your transition to the corner to start your new tumbling pass!" Hinata said stepping outside the floor to stand where she could watch the routine with an unobstructed view. "Are you going to work on your beam, Ino?"

Ino gave a thoughtful look before shrugging her shoulders, "Not yet. I should probably work on my vault. Coach upgraded my vault to a Handspring Straight Front Salto wit twist, so I'll work on my beam a little later," she explained before running off to the vault chalk bowl.

Hinata turned back to Tenten only to see her staring off somewhere else. She followed her gaze to the uneven bars where Sakura was all chalked up and checking the bars. Sakura walked a few feet back before she turned around and took a deep breath. She took a running start and performed a round-off into the spring board set up in front of the low bar. In mid-air, she executed a perfect Arabian salto before grabbing and hanging off the high bar.

Hinata looked back at Tenten to see her mouth hanging open, "That was amazing…" she thought she heard the brunette beauty whisper.

Hinata hesitated before turning back to small figure now just standing under the bars and yelling across the gym, "Sakura!" said girl's head snapped up, "What was that mount called? And when did you learn it?"

Sakura smiled and then shouted back, "It was a Round-off Arabian salto over the low bar to hang on the high bar! Tsunade suggested it about a week ago and we've been working on it ever since then!"

"Well, that was flawless! Just keep your feet closer together for the round-off and you'll be a bit higher over the low bar!" Ino shouted from the vaulting area.

"Thanks! I've been trying to figure out what I was doing wrong!" Sakura said with a look of enlightenment.

"Oh, Sakura! I've been meaning to ask you!" Ino said before running to grab Sakura's arm and pull her away from everyone else.

Hinata shook her head to clear her thoughts, "Tenten, let's get to work!"

"So what happened on your date yesterday?" Ino whispered.

Sakura sighed before saying, "I don't understand, Ino. He never comes to my competitions and Olympic trials are coming up. I think I'd perform better if I knew he came to watch," she shook her head before continuing, "But of course all he could say was 'Babe, you know how busy I am. I'll try but I don't want you to be disappointed'"

Ino giggled at her attempt at Sasuke's deep monotone. "Look, its okay. You'll be an Olympian with or without him and he already cleared his schedule to go to London with you for a week. Don't push it, he's trying!"

"You're right." She said with a laugh, "I should really appreciate that he's even trying with how packed his schedule always is."

"Now! Enough with the sad, time to practice. Come watch my vault." Ino said before grabbing her hand and yanking her towards the vault.

"Just don't fall on your butt, okay?" Sakura teased.

Ino gave a fake laugh before abruptly stopping, "No."

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Like? Tell me in a review. I might need some help with this story, so anyone interested PM me!

Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Alright, I know it's taking me forever to update, but I'm in school and I don't have a computer of my own, so I'm kind of trying to fit it in when I can.

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"Are you serious?" Tenten shouted, "A round-off, double pike back salto? Come on, Neji! You know as well as I do that I can barely do the round-off, double tuck salto that my mother put in my routine last week!"

The tall, long-haired man leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table in between them, "And did it take you very long to learn that dismount?" He paused and watched her reluctantly shake her head, "No. So why shouldn't it be possible for you to be able to stick this one if you work on it non-stop for the next 3 weeks or so."

Tenten's mouth dropped at his nonchalant words, "Neji! Olympic Trials are 2 weeks away! 3 weeks will be too late. How will I-

"Who said you would do the move at Olympic Trials?" Neji implied with a smirk rising on his lips.

"What?" Tenten said in confusion.

Neji leaned into the table as if about to share a secret, "You don't do the dismount at the trials. You wait until the Qualifiers to pull that move out. It will surprise everyone. I mean no one really expects you to take home an individual event medal on anything but vault but if you do this move you just might take home a medal on balance beam as well."

Tenten opened her mouth to retort, but slowly closed it as she thought about the idea. "Tell me more," She said with a smile slowly stretching across her face. "I'm beginning to see what you're saying here."

Neji leaned back in his chair with a certain lazy arrogance, "Great. Now listen, for you to pull this off you need to be able to keep it between me and you. Don't tell your teammates, because although they are your best friends, they're also your competition."

"What about Tsunade? She could help me with the move."

Neji shook his head as he brought his drink up to his lips, "Tsunade may help you, but her loyalties will always lie with Sakura in the end. She'll unconsciously try and up Sakura's routines to help her. She won't tell, but she won't have to."

Tenten nodded in silent agreement, "Alright, when's our first practice, Coach?"

Neji gave her an annoyed look at the name, "You're not funny. Anyways, we should start tomorrow morning before practice. I'll meet you there at 8. Don't be late, Ten. This is serious."

"Neji, When am I ever late?" Tenten said with a look of amusement.

"Alright, point taken. Don't start now." He said before he got up and dumped his trash, "Bye, Ten. See you tomorrow."

Then he was gone.

Tenten leaned back in her chair with a thoughtful look on her face.

* * *

"Look, Ino." Sakura said with an annoyed tone, "Kakashi told me to help you with your uneven bars, because let's face it you suck at the bars. But for me to actually help you at all, you need to listen to me."

Ino crossed her arms and fixed her lips into a pout before replying, "Why can't I just stick with my original routine? And just because I'm not as good as you on the bars doesn't mean I suck, Thank you very much."

"Listen, we want the team medal which means all of us have to be on point on everything. The step between being great and being amazing in gymnastics is simple; it's stepping out of your comfort zone." Sakura said seriously, "If you continue with things you're comfortable with you won't get anywhere."

"But if I add a higher level release move to my bars that not stepping, it's jumping out of my stupid comfort zone," Ino shot back.

Sakura reeled back as if she had been hit and Ino slumped with a defeated sigh, "I'm sorry for being so harsh."

"Is there something I need to know, Did something happen when you went to dinner with Shikamaru yesterday?" Sakura said as she sat down cross-legged on the mat and motioned for Ino to do the same.

"What the hell _didn't_ happen?" Ino threw her hands up in exasperation, "He told me he's dating another girl!"

Sakura's eyes widened in shock, "Shikamaru is? Who?"

"Temari," Ino answered with bitterness.

Sakura shook the shock off before putting a comforting on Ino's slender shoulder, "Ino, I understand you're hurt. But you really shouldn't let your love life interfere with your training. If he doesn't want you, so be it. He'll want you when you're standing on the 1st place podium with a gold medal."

Ino stood up and put her hands on her hips, "You're right. What am I doing wasting time thinking about him? Let's work! Show me that ridiculous release move!"

Sakura smiled, "That's my girl."

* * *

"Hinata-Chan!"

Said girl turned around searching for the voice she knew all too well. She didn't have to look long before her blonde fiancée shot through the two people in front of her with a smile stretching from ear to ear on his tan face.

"Yes, Naruto-kun."

"I got you something!" He said before handing her a plain white box. "I bought it to help you during the trials."

Hinata gave him a confused look before dropping her sports bag on the ground so she could use both hands to open the box. "Oh, Naruto-kun! It's perfect!" She pulled out a long-sleeved, black and silver leotard made of two different fabrics. The black was velvet, while the silver was a sparkly velvet that would shine underneath the lights of the gym. It also had blue swirls near the collar. "How did you know I like to wear blue in competition?"

"I know everything about you, love." He replied with a grin. "I knew you would like it, I had it made especially for you."

Tears rimmed Hinata's eyes as she looked at him for only a moment before giving him a tight hug, "Thank you." She pulled back slightly to look into his eyes, "I love you." Then she kissed him with all the emotions she felt for him pouring out into her kiss.

"I love you too, Hinata-chan. Don't worry, right after the Olympics, we're getting married no doubt about it!" He said after they pulled away.

She smiled at him before picking up her bag, grabbing his hand, and walking through the busy streets on her way home.

* * *

Good?

Bad?

I need to just stop?

I don't know, so you should let me know. (:

R&R


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